“Pack and Go” Meteorologists Will Get Upgraded Equipment

Incident Meteorologists (IMETs) will soon use advanced computer equipment, as well as a new two-way satellite system, when forecasting from wildland fires or other hazardous materials incidents. Called the All Hazards Onsite Meteorological Support System, the new equipment will be phased in during the next seven months. The goal is to have 10 of the new units operational by late August. Full deployment is expected during fire season 2003.

The NWS is purchasing 63 new laptop computers loaded with upgraded software to help IMETs access an enhanced suite of computer weather models and data. The interactive technology, known as FX-NET, is a prototype program developed by NOAA’s Forecast Systems Laboratory (FSL) in Boulder, CO. FX-NET has graphical imaging capability and advanced weather processing software. In addition, the IMETS will upgrade from using a one-way to a two-way satellite receiving dish.

“IMETS are our ‘pack-n-go’ elite team of forecasters,” said NWS Deputy Director John Jones. “When called upon to provide on-site meteorological support, these forecasters must be able to quickly set up and operate their equipment in unusual and, often, remote places. Sometimes they are setting up a virtual forecast office in a tent in the forest or at facilities such as a school near the fires. We’re confident the new equipment will continue to enhance the services the IMETs provide to our customers every day.”

With the new and enhanced equipment, the IMETS will be able to better prepare their mesoscale weather forecasts to support land management agencies or emergency managers in a near real-time basis from remote locations. They will be able to access NOAA satellite imagery, specific data from the Doppler Weather Radars, or remote sensors to help identify short-term or long-term changes in the weather.

“Our IMETs are breaking records for the number of days they provide weather support during various hazardous situations,” said Jones. “We tested various computer configurations over the past two years to yield improvements in the hardware, software and IMET training programs. This new equipment will enhance our support to land management agencies and our response to other hazardous situations.”

Staff in Western Region Headquarters and the Weather Forecast Office in Salt Lake City collaborated with IMETs and researchers at FSL to develop and test the system. The NWS tested the new equipment in extreme winter weather conditions, at wildland fires and during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Utah from eight remote venue sites

The implementation plan includes advanced training on the use of the software enhancements designed by FSL. Modification of existing components of the IMET’s portable weather kit, known as the Advanced Technology Meteorological Unit (ATMU), are planned. The new all hazards support plan establishes four regional FX-NET data servers to supply the latest AWIPS data sets to support a national system and incorporates the latest security features to protect NWS information technology infrastructure.

Gov Online Learning Center Provides Free e-Training Courses for Federal Workforce

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has created a new website offering free online training courses for Federal employees. OPM calls the creation of the Gov Online Learning Center “the first phase of the President's Management Agenda e-Training Initiative.”

Course offerings range from leadership, management for the diverse workforce, and customer service, to one of the favorite subjects of your NOAA's NWS Focus editors: communication training, which includes topics such as interpersonal communication and writing high-impact reports and proposals. Course lengths vary, but some courses can be completed in as little as two hours, while others may take eight hours to complete.

The site is designed as a virtual campus that houses free training courses and knowledge resources in each of its rooms. Visit http://www.golearn.gov/ for registration information.

Working Together to Save Lives:
Agreement with Private Weather Company to Assist NWS in Homeland Security Support

A private network of more than 6,000 automated weather stations will be available for the NWS to use in support of homeland defense under a recent agreement. A joint public announcement of the agreement is expected to be made in early August 2002.

An NWS memorandum of understanding with AWS Convergence Technologies, Inc., allows the NWS to use the data from AWS’s automated weather stations. The NWS can use the new data in its developmental models to respond in a more timely and accurate manner to any emergency and/or legitimate threats to life, health, or property.

If a homeland security incident or disaster takes place, the NWS will be able to pull real-time weather data from the AWS WeatherNet network to supplement and enhance very precise forecast models that government agencies, the military, and emergency managers can use to make critical decisions.

The AWS WeatherNet network, established in 1993, is a nationwide commercial weather network. The company’s monitoring locations are based primarily at schools. Currently more than 100 local TV stations integrate local weather data from the AWS network into their forecast reports. In addition, AWS currently uses NWS data along with that obtained through their own weather sensor network to distribute NWS forecasts and storm/weather warnings to nearly 12 million users through its free, Internet-based desktop software application, WeatherBug.

“Not all WFOs will benefit from these data because the stations are asymmetrically deployed in mostly urban areas,” said Dave Helms, the Observations Focal Point for the NWS Office of Science and Technology (OST) Science Plans Branch. Click here for a map of AWS locations and ASOS stations.

Implementation of AWS data into NWS operations will be supported by the NOAA Research Forecast Systems Laboratory, NWS Chief Information Officer, OST, NWS Office of Operational Systems, and NCEP Central Operations. Policy for data usage and distribution will be staffed by the NWS Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services.

Helms added that a statistical assessment of each station will be done to determine data quality prior to operational deployment in AWIPS.

“Once testing is completed and data is found to be beneficial in supporting homeland security applications (i.e., providing short-range forecasts of surface and boundary layer winds), we will proceed to integrate these data into their operational databases so it can be used immediately when the public is threatened by a chemical, fire, nuclear, or biological incident,” Helms said. Data also will be integrated into some local models.

More information about AWS is available at http://www.AWS.com/.

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An e-mail list has been established for employees to receive updates on Interactive Forecast Preparation System (IFPS) training. The list will be used to announce newly-developed National Digital Forecast Database/IFPS training opportunities. Summaries of IFPS-related training activities will also be distributed to list members on a monthly basis. To sign up for the list, visit the NWS/IFPS Training Information Page at http://www.nwstc.noaa.gov/nwstrn/ifps_met.htm.

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NWS to Assume Operations of Northern Pacific Buoys

Representatives of the National Data Buoy Center recently completed a 20-day working cruise with NOAA Researchers in the north Pacific to service an array of buoys used to identify tsunamis.

From June 14 to July 2, 2002, Brett Taft, Engineer and Task Lead, and several NDBC support contract personnel accompanied NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) staff to service the Deep ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) buoy array in the north Pacific Ocean.

The two groups conducted the activity as part of the transition plan for migrating the DART operation from the NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research to the NWS in the coming year. All five DART stations were successfully recovered, serviced, and deployed.

The DART network was developed and is operated by PMEL. NDBC, under the NWS, will assume operational responsibility of the network next year while PMEL, under the NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, will retain the engineering development portion of the program.

The DART array is used to detect the possible presence of tsunamis and provide this information to the Tsunami Warning Centers in Hawaii and Alaska for proper warnings and preparations in coastal areas vulnerable to tsunamis. Six stations make up the DART buoy array: three stations along the Aleutian Islands; two stations off the coast of Oregon; and one station near the Hawaiian Islands. An expansion station is being prepared for deployment near the coast of Chile.

Each station is comprised of an independent Bottom Pressure Recorder (BPR) and a moored buoy. The BPR detects the presence of a possible tsunami by measuring the mean water level based on the water pressure on the sea floor. Once a possible tsunami is detected, this information is transmitted to the surface buoy. This in turn is transmitted to the Tsunami Warning Centers through NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) network in real time. The surface buoys are serviced on a yearly basis to replace batteries and damaged components. The BPRs are replaced and/or serviced in a similar fashion every two years.

The staff boarded the National Science Foundation’s research vessel (R/V) Maurice Ewing in Kodiak, AK. The R/V Maurice Ewing is an oceanographic research vessel of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and is operated by the Office of Marine Affairs. It is a Class I member of the University National Oceanographic Laboratory System's academic research fleet and operates around the world.

The NDBC and PMEL staffs sailed with the crew of the R/V Maurice Ewing until the cruise ended on July 2nd in Astoria, OR.